Kakao launches KakaoGroup, a private group communication app that pairs with its messaging service

Kakao, the company behind South Korea’s leading chat app KakaoTalk, today released KakaoGroup, a standalone app specifically designed for messaging among groups of friends, acquaintances and colleagues.

Many competing apps like WeChat and Line have built-in group chat functions, but groups in KakaoGroup are private.

Anyone can create a group and invite members through his or her KakaoTalk platform. The group creator serves as the “host” and can name the group, add a thumbnail picture, and add or remove members freely.

According to Kakao, the app is ideal for teams working on school projects, or select groups of relatives. The degree of privacy in KakaoGroup ensures that colleagues or loved ones can share and archive important information, and the integration with KakaoTalk lets users move their conversation back and forth from private group chats to public group chats.

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KakaoTalk is said to be installed on over 90 percent of all smartphones in South Korea, and has racked up over 100 million downloads, an overwhelming majority of which are from within Korea’s borders. The messaging app has drawn attention most recently with its games platform, which in the first half of 2013 brought in 348 billion Won (about $311 million) in revenue from in-app purchases.

➤ Download KakaoGroup for iOS | Android

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